Peer to Peer

Based on Dr. Jo Shaprio's program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, both St. Luke's Treasure Valley and Saint Alphonsus Health System have established similar solutions for their medical staff.  Confidential, personal outreach and support to providers involved in a significant or adverse event without fear of disclosure​.

Peer Supporters are your colleagues who are trained and can confidentially reach out and provide support as someone who has “been there” to combat the stress associated with those events or patient situations. They are available at any time for clinicians
feeling distress from any cause. They are not counselors but can refer you to other resources to assist you if you want to go further.

These programs run confidentially by each hospital's medical staff by-laws under Idaho Peer ​Review statutes and court rules, which prohibit disclosure. Additionally, both hospitals assert that only encounters are logged and not participant names.
It will never happen to me. But then it does.
 Medical error
 Lawsuit
 Board of Medicine complaint
 Unexpected patient outcome or death
 Immediate family death or major illness
 Divorce/separation
 Personal health crisis

You want to talk with somebody who has been there!

Free Physician Psychiatric Support - This national hotline started during COVID-19 and is staffed exclusively by volunteer psychiatrist. 1-888-409-0141 ​Physician Support Line
Saint Alphonsus Contact: Guillermo Guzman-Trevino
Guillermo.GuzmanTrevino@saintalphonsus.org

St. Luke's Treasure Valley Contact: Ben Godfrey
​(208) 859-5553
TVwellness@slhs.org (monitored by St. Luke's Medical Staff Office)
The American Medical Association now has a StepsFoward module on how to set-up a Peer-to-Peer program in your institution.
​Most graphics courtesy of Freepik / Pixabay

Original Content Copyright 2015-2021* Ada County Medical Society
PhysicianVitality.org and the Capital Coalition for Physician Well-Being is sponsored by Ada County Medical Society, Boise Idaho.

The National Charter on Physician Well-Being was developed by the Collaborative for Healing And Renewal in Medicine, under a grant from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

Local services offered here, specifically the Physician Vitality Program (counseling services) are directed at ACMS Members only. All other information is published in the hopes it will be useful to other physicians and clinicians seeking help and inspiration.

Our Physician Vitality webpage is focused on non-commercial solutions and does not list commercial products or services unless are very narrowly focused on physician well-being and locally based in Idaho.  
If you have research, examples, or ideas that illustrate approaches to implementing the Charter on Physician Well-Being, you may submit or recommend content to: director@adamedicalsociety.org.